Celebrating Freedom: A Free HIIT Workout Routine!

Happy 4th of July! We’ve made it to yet another holiday weekend, and all the way through the first half of 2015! This is a great time to reflect on how far we’ve come on the goals we set at the beginning of the year, and what we plan to do to make the rest of 2015 the best it can be! Give this free HIIT workout routine a try to get the second half of the year started right!

Holiday weekends, especially in the summer, can do a number on weight loss and fitness progress. The grill is fired up, the food is delicious, the beer is cold — what could possibly go wrong here, right?? We can talk another time about the importance of preparation with your food, limiting alcohol consumption, making better eating choices, etc. For today though, we’re going to talk about what you can do before the party to get your body ready to burn whatever you do end up putting in it, and get your mind in the right place heading into a day or weekend full of temptation.

What This Free HIIT Workout Routine Can Do For YOU

One of the most effective ways to burn a high number of calories in a short amount of time, while also burning calories throughout the rest of your day, is HIIT. If you’re not familiar with this style of workout, HIIT is an acronym for High Intensity Interval Training. The whole idea is to go all out — as hard as you can possibly go — for a short amount of time, with rest periods in between exercises. These workouts are especially appealing because there is a lot of variety within the workout, which makes it fun (imagine that), and it doesn’t take that long to get in an awesome calorie burn. So this type of workout is perfect for a day when you’re busy, or would rather spend time hanging out with your friends and family instead of in the gym all day!

By starting your day out with a quick, effective workout like this one, you’ll set yourself up to burn calories ALL DAY long. This is a great concept and desired result any time, but can be especially helpful on days when you might be consuming a few more calories than you typically would. In addition to burning a ton of calories, you’ll also experience the benefits of higher energy levels, a better mood, and making better food and drink choices when you think back to all the hard work you put in earlier that day. It’s a win-win-win…another reason to celebrate!

The Workout: What You Need to Know

This workout can be done anywhere — seriously anywhere. It can be done outside, in a parking lot, at the park, in your bedroom, at the campground (on a boat, with a goat – you get the idea)…it really doesn’t matter. I completed this particular workout in a middle school parking lot near my house (note the snowflake blanket I did push-ups on, because I have sensitive lady hands). I like to sprint, so I try to find large open spaces where I’m able to do that, but high knees is a perfectly fine substitute for this if you have limited space. I also enjoy using my agility ladder for one of the intervals, but if you don’t have one, you can throw in absolutely any cardio-type move instead (mountain climbers, fast feet, burpees, squat jumps, line jumps, etc.).

The length of the workout is completely up to you. If you’re cashed out after 2 rounds, then you’re done! If you only have 15 minutes — 3 rounds it is! Another advantage of HIIT is the flexibility you have to adjust it to your schedule, fitness/energy level, available equipment, or your surroundings. If you don’t have an interval timer (I use a Gymboss), there are several apps that will keep track of the time for you, including rest periods. I use the Repeat Timer App, which is easy to use and only takes a minute to download.

If you have ANY questions about how to set up the workout, how to complete the exercises, or need more ideas for modified/alternative exercises, don’t be shy! Leave us a comment below…we’re here to help!

Alright, enough talking – time to go work out! HIIT it hard! (See what I did there? 🙂 )

The Celebrating-Freedom-With-HIIT Workout

30 sec. High Knees (or 40-50 yd Sprint)

20 sec. rest

30 sec. Speed Squats

20 sec. rest

30 sec. Jump Rope(or Jumping Jacks)

20 sec. rest

30 sec. Push-ups (on knees or bench, if needed)

20 sec. rest

30 sec. Ladder Drills (or Mountain Climbers)

20 sec. rest (1 minute rest in between rounds — IF you need it)

Repeat in accordance with your fitness level or available time:

Beginner: 3 rounds ≈ 12-15 minutes

Intermediate: 4 rounds ≈ 16-19 minutes

Advanced: 5 rounds ≈ 20-23 minutes

If you had a chance to give this workout a try, leave a comment below to let us know how it went! How many rounds did you make it through? Did you put in any alternate exercises? Where did you do the workout? Did you convince any family members or friends to do this free HIIT workout routine along with you? Let us know! Enjoy those FREE 4th of July weekend gains!

8 Responses

Great article! The workout info is fantastic – makes readers feel like they’re getting something very useful from you. I can’t say I’m that motivated to work out outside though, because it’s the dead of winter here lol.

Haha! I totally get the winter thing — running around in snow and ice isn’t overly appealing 🙂 The flexibility is probably the best part about doing HIIT, for that very reason, haha. Thanks for stopping by SC!

Great question Lin! The amount of HIIT that is included in a weekly routine really varies person by person. I love doing a brief (only takes 5-10 minutes total) HIIT workout right when I wake up in the morning just to kick-start my metabolism. I also end my strength workouts this way to burn out any energy I have left and throw out another 100 calories or so before I leave the gym.

I typically use HIIT as my primary workout 1-2 times/week, and really love the results I get from it. It’s done quickly, and you can put in so much variety (running stairs, body weight exercises, sport drills, etc.) — the options are really endless, and cater to any fitness level. It’s also a great method if your primary goal is fat loss and you’re a little leery about going to the gym.

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